Chapter 1859 – 1859. Eternal Eden
* * *
Swoosh.
Gu Tae-hee’s upper body was sliced. Her shirt was neatly cut, revealing a thin red line across the middle of her chest. The cut exposed her chest. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Her body was as scarred as her face. Knife wounds, bullet holes, and more. She looked like a tattered rag.
“Oh. Your chest is bigger than I thought.”
He’d guessed a B cup, but it turned out to be a C. Perhaps due to her age, her breasts sagged slightly. Her nipples were reddish-brown. Gu Tae-hee, who had already given up on life as a woman, calmly looked down to check the wound.
It was bleeding, but it was shallow. Compared to her other scars, it was just a scratch. With proper care, it would heal without a scar.
‘…What happened? His blade isn’t long enough to reach my body. Even if he held the hilt far back, it’s physically impossible for it to touch me. What kind of ability is that?’
During the earlier fight, she’d seen a crackling effect. Blocking or deflecting firearms seemed to be part of that ability. But questions kept arising. Could electricity do that?
‘And his masterful swordsmanship doesn’t match his young appearance. Having survived countless battles, she knew better than anyone how impossible his swordsmanship was.’
‘What’s even stranger is that I’m still alive when I should have died from the side effects of the drug, with my blood vessels bursting. I saw blood coming from my mouth, eyes, ears, and nose. My blood vessels definitely ruptured. I’m sure I even had a brain hemorrhage.’
And yet, the man before her was alive. The only explanation was that he had a recovery-type ability.
‘To sum it up: a crazy mental state, swordsmanship beyond mastery, suspected electrical ability, and suspected recovery ability. What kind of monster is this?’
As was her habit, Gu Tae-hee mentally placed herself and her opponent on equal footing and began a combat simulation. If the simulation resulted in a 50% or higher chance of victory, she would bite her opponent’s throat without hesitation.
Conversely, if the chance was 49% or lower, she would hold back. The reason she had survived this long was because she had strictly adhered to her own rules.
‘He’s exhausted. He’s not in a normal state. Right now, I have three knives and one pistol…’
The result was less than 3%.
The moment she moved, a blade would fly at her. Even if she blocked the attack with a knife, she wasn’t confident she could block the follow-up attacks. Quickly thinking, Gu Tae-hee relaxed her shoulders.
“I want to form a cooperative relationship with you.”
Gu Tae-hee said. She was on the edge of a cliff. A cliff where she could fall at the whim of a madman. But she had no intention of groveling for her life.
Sung Yu-jin chuckled.
“If you had come out like that from the start, we all would have been comfortable.”
“…I didn’t have the qualifications then, so it couldn’t be helped. I admit my judgment was lacking.”
“There are three conditions. First, send money and necessities like food to Sungak Elementary School.”
“Ten billion won. And enough food and necessities for 100 people to last a year.”
“Three years.”
“…The government is currently monitoring the distribution of food and necessities. If we move carelessly, the government will intervene.”
“So what? That’s for you to figure out.”
“……What’s the second condition?”
“Bring large machinery and appliances. Oh, and I’d like some cars that are about to be scrapped. We can use them for barricades and such.”
“I’ll bring them within a week. What’s the last condition?”
“The legal ownership of Sungak Elementary School. I want to resolve this now to avoid future disputes. Nothing too difficult, right?”
“I can do it, but things won’t go as smoothly as you want.”
“What?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t have investigated Sungak Elementary School? It’s tied to the political world. To be more specific, it’s connected to two congressmen and three construction companies.”
Sung Yu-jin frowned. She knew there were issues, but the situation seemed more complicated than she had thought.
“How did that happen?”
“A con artist pulled off a big scam and fled overseas. It would cost tens or hundreds of billions to resolve properly. But if the ownership changes to you, do you think they’ll stay still? They’ll definitely try to get your information by any means necessary.”
“……”
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying I won’t accept your condition. I’ll take ownership of Sungak Elementary School. I’m quite well-known, you know. Even congressmen can’t ignore me. Not to mention construction companies.”
“So, you’ll be the landlord?”
“I have no intention of acting like a landlord. Think of it as a favor from an ally.”
Sung Yu-jin nodded. Even if she didn’t like it, if what she said was true, it was the best way to avoid troublesome interference.
If the landlord became a nuisance, she could just kill him then.
“Since the third condition didn’t go as I wanted, here’s a fourth condition.”
“…I hope it’s a reasonable one.”
“Since it’s an abandoned school, the building itself is quite old. It seems like we need to repair and remodel the whole thing, so send an expert. I’ll only need them for about ten days.”
“I have two construction companies that I run separately. I’ll send people and materials. Are these all the conditions for our cooperation?”
“Yes. We’re allies now. Shall we shake hands?”
Sung Yu-jin shook hands with Gu Tae-hee and then got up. She took Na Chae-young, who was still fondling her chest, and went downstairs. Na Chae-young, trying her best not to react to Sung Yu-jin’s touch, quietly opened her mouth.
“…Thank you. If it weren’t for you, I would have been completely at that woman’s mercy.”
“It might have been better to go under that woman. She’s clearly not an ordinary woman.”
It might be better to kill her now. The problem was the aftermath. She had massacred dozens of people here, so someone had to clean up. Moreover, Gu Tae-hee was the boss of Taehwang. If she died, her subordinates would cause a ruckus seeking revenge, making things even more complicated.
Compared to Taehwang, an organization of at least several thousand people, Sung Yu-jin and Na Chae-young were just two people. In Sung Yu-jin’s view, it was better to end things well here.
“It’s too late for that. We have to go our own way. So… you’re our representative.”
Na Chae-young said.
“Did you learn a lot this time?”
“…I learned a lot. As that woman said, I’m not fit to be a ruler. She looked down on me, but you didn’t. You were even wary of me. I was mistaken. I thought that because I was a player, I could do well like in a game… but in reality, it was completely different.”
“So, I’m now Na Chae-young’s boss.”
“…Officially. The deal between you and me will remain. One hour a day. Don’t forget.”
“Ah. Chae-young. You know it hasn’t been an hour yet, right?”
“So?”
“Let’s kiss.”
Na Chae-young sighed. It was a somewhat serious atmosphere, but he always had to be like this. It was annoying, but she couldn’t refuse. It was his time now. Na Chae-young raised her chin. Conversely, Sung Yu-jin lowered his chin. Their lips slowly met.
“Mmm…”
The woman, who had experienced her first kiss not long ago, moved her lips and accepted the man’s tongue. Sung Yu-jin was too good at kissing, and being with him had improved her kissing skills to some extent.
Na Chae-young felt a slight floating sensation. Before her mood could rise any higher, Sung Yu-jin broke the kiss and said,
“Let’s go back quickly.”
“…Okay.”
They approached the truck. It didn’t seem like anything had been done to it.
“I drove here, so you drive back, Chae-young.”
Na Chae-young sat in the driver’s seat. The car key was in the ignition. Just as she was about to start the engine and drive, Sung Yu-jin, who was in the passenger seat, slumped over.
Startled, Na Chae-young grabbed Sung Yu-jin’s shoulder and checked his breathing. Fortunately, Sung Yu-jin wasn’t dead. He had just fallen asleep as if dead.
Na Chae-young let out a sigh of relief, then tensed up again, startled. This wasn’t a safe place. The gangsters might come running like crazy, so she couldn’t relax. The truck quietly left the abandoned construction site.
Meanwhile, Gu Tae-hee, as soon as she saw the truck leaving through the window, took out her smartphone from her pocket.
“It’s me.”
-Yes, Boss.
Park Sung-hyun, the manager who was Gu Tae-hee’s direct subordinate, answered the phone immediately.
“Things went wrong. We need to prepare money, food, and necessities.”
-I’ll prepare people right away. How much do you need?
“I’ll let you know separately. Taehwang has formed an alliance with Sungak Elementary School. Pull back all the guys who are monitoring Sungak Elementary School. It’ll be a hassle if we get caught.”
-An alliance… Did things go wrong? I thought it wasn’t a difficult task.
“Na Park wasn’t a difficult opponent. Rather, she was easy. The problem is the guy next to Na Park. He was a monster, almost not human.”
-This is the second time you’ve evaluated someone like that, Boss. I’ll investigate separately. Or is even investigating dangerous?
“He’s not as troublesome as that woman. However, he’s a headache because you can’t predict where he’ll jump. Investigate moderately. Enough that it won’t be a problem even if he finds out.”
-There won’t be any chance of him finding out. Do you have any other instructions?
“Send all the cleaning teams from 1 to 3 here. There’s a lot of trash to clean up.”
-The cleaning teams will have a hard time.
“Give them a decent bonus. And send the kids to take over Gangseo District. Jung Go-san and his subordinates are gone. All that’s left are scraps. Take it within two days.”
-Understood. And out of personal curiosity… what’s the estimate of that monster?
“…Less than 3%.”
-He must be a real monster. Where did such a monster suddenly come from?
“You know, don’t you? Monsters just pop out of nowhere.”
-But it’s too harsh that you estimated the probability at less than 3%, Boss.
“…The probability can be raised from 3%. Even a monster isn’t immortal…”
-Boss?
“Get to work.”
Gu Tae-hee, who had unilaterally ended the call, lowered her eyes. She recalled the scene she had seen earlier. The sight of the monster, who had collapsed bleeding from every hole in his face, standing up again.
She thought it was impossible, but what if the monster couldn’t die? What would the probability be then?
‘…Less than 1%.’
